Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me: Celtic Blessings

By Beth A. Richardson

Do you wonder where God is present in your day? Let Beth Richardson help you learn to bless the life you have and experience the sacredness of every moment.

Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me guides you to be present in the moment and find God in your everyday circumstances through the use of blessings. Use the blessings in this book as touchstones throughout the day-a calm center to focus on despite whatever is happening around you.

In typical Celtic style, the blessings encourage us to notice God's presence in each moment-especially through nature. A sense of joy and gratitude for ordinary moments pervades this book. Beth Richardson leads us to realize the richness of the gifts of life, express our feelings about special moments and times of struggle, and find ways to pray for the world and all its people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Upper Room Books
• Release date: Mar 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9780835815246

Beth A. Richardson

Beth A. Richardson serves as the director of prayer and Upper Room worship life at The Upper Room and is also dean of The Upper Room Chapel. An Oklahoma native, she is an ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church and is a member of the Mountain Sky Conference. Beth holds a master of divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School and a bachelor of arts in sociology from Oklahoma City University. Follow her writings at betharichardson.com and jackthescottie.com.

Book preview

CHRIST BESIDE ME, CHRIST WITHIN ME: Celtic Blessings

Copyright © 2016 by Beth A. Richardson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. For information, write Upper Room Books, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212.

Upper Room Books website: books.upperroom.org

Upper Room®, Upper Room Books®, and design logos are trademarks owned by The Upper Room®, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Blessings for chapter openings are taken from Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Volume I. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1900; Volume III. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1940.

At the time of publication all website references in this book were valid. However, due to the fluid nature of the Internet some addresses may have changed or the content may not longer be relevant.

Cover: Bruce Gore | Gore Studio Inc.

Cover photo: The Quirang—Isle of Skye, Scotland, by Paul Schatzkin [e-mail] © 2012. All rights reserved.

Back cover photo: Timothy Savage

Chapter opening photos: Beth A. Richardson

Interior design: Perfect Type, Nashville, Tennessee

Opening chapter blessings taken from the following:

Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Volume I. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1900.

Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Volume III. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1940.

O’Donohue, John. Anam Ċara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom. New York: HarperCollins, 1997

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Names: Richardson, Beth A.

Title: Christ beside me, Christ within me : Celtic blessings / Beth A. Richardson.

Description: Nashville : Upper Room Books, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015032566| ISBN 9780835815239 (print) | ISBN 9780835815338 (mobi) | ISBN 9780835815246 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Prayers. | Benediction. | Celtic Church—Prayers and devotions.

Classification: LCC BV245 .R555 2016 | DDC 242/.8—dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032566

Printed in the United States of America

TO MY CELTIC ANCESTORS—

Margaret Richardson, mother,

Tom Wilson, grandfather,

Margaret Teresa Griffin, great-grandmother,

Mary Tuohy, great-great-grandmother.

And all those who came before, members of the community of saints.

TIMELINE

Late 1800s — John (Jack) Wilson immigrates to South Africa from England.

Margaret Griffin immigrates to South Africa from Ireland.

Jack and Margaret meet and marry in Kimberley, South Africa.

1899 — John and Margaret live in Kenilworth, South Africa, taking refuge in Kimberley during the Siege of Kimberley in the Second Boer War.

1905 — Jack and Tom (twins) are born in Kenilworth.

1907 — Eileen (Jack and Tom’s sister) is born in Kenilworth.

1914 — Wilson family takes a trip from South Africa to England so Grandpa Jack’s brother can see a doctor.

1914 (August) — England declares war on Germany. Civilian travel ceases.

1914 — Wilson family travels to Scariff, County Clare, Ireland, to visit Margaret Griffin Wilson’s birthplace and family.

1915 — Wilson family waits in Liverpool for the RMS Lusitania with tickets to travel to the United States.

1915 (May 7) — German U-boat sinks the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland before it reaches port in Liverpool.

1915 — Wilson family travels to the United States on the Philadelphia along with survivors of the Lusitania disaster.

1915 — Wilson family arrives in southwest Oklahoma only to be stranded in the United States when civilian travel ceases with the onset of the US war on Germany.

1924 — Tom Wilson receives high school diploma and teacher’s certificate from Cameron College in Lawton, Oklahoma.

1929 — Tom Wilson marries Hazel Davis.

1935 — Margaret Elizabeth Wilson is born.

1945 — Wilson family moves from Lawton to Norman, Oklahoma.